If you are thinking of purchasing a coffee grinder there are primarily two kinds, the burr coffee grinder and the electric blade coffee grinder. I will be writing about what each type does and how it operates, so you can decide which is the best purchase for your home.

Coffee Grinders

The blade grinder is the less expensive of the two types of grinders. The electric version was introduced into the U.S. market in the 1950s. Some say that this type of coffee grinder is similar to a small electric blender.

Coffee Grinders

The blades of this type of grinder have no grind settings so if you are going to use your beans for espresso you will not be able to achieve the precise uniform grind necessary for a quality espresso drink.

On the other hand blade grinders are inexpensive and quick. You can grind beans for regular drip coffee in about 25 seconds. However a drawback of this kind of quickness is that the heat from the blades will destroy much of the flavor of the bean.

The second type of grinder is the burr coffee grinder which is a bit more expensive but will provide a much better grind for specialty drinks such as cappuccino and lattes.

Burr grinders contain rough metal plates which flake the coffee beans little by little. The wheels of the grinder turn slowly which keeps the heat to a minimum and thus exposing the beans to the most surface area for extracting the oils.

Most quality grinders of this type will have a dosing mechanism that will measure the amount of ground beans to be placed into the porta filter of your espresso machine.

One thing to keep in mind however is that if you use your burr grinder to grind flavored beans that it might flavor the burrs and cause your regular beans to take on a different flavor. It is almost impossible to completely clean the burr wheels.